UM professor fights cancer to top
http://missoulian.com/lifestyles/recreation/article_20addca2-8fa1-11df-ad4a-001cc4c002e0.html
By MICHAEL MOORE of the Missoulian
ATOP MOUNT SENTINEL - At least twice a week, Scott Woods comes up here carrying a 30-pound pack that is mostly full of water.
It's also full of dare-to-dream dreams.
That he will make it to the top of an icy volcano in a couple of weeks.
That the cancer that infiltrates his body will cease its ceaseless invasion.
That he will live.
Scott Woods, who never smoked, has lung cancer. By the time it was discovered in 2008, it was advanced enough to make a cure impossible.
"Right now, I do chemo every three weeks, and that's been keeping me relatively stable," said Woods, a 43-year-old professor of hydrology in the forestry school at the University of Montana. "Obviously, it's not the way you'd choose to live. But it's far, far better than the alternative."
If it seems incongruous that a man doing chemo every few weeks is humping a 30-pound backpack up Mount Sentinel a couple of times a week, try this.
In a month, Scott Woods will climb Mount Rainier, elevation 14,411 feet, the highest peak in Washington and the most glaciated mountain in the lower 48 states.
He's climbing in part for himself.
"I've realized how much time I've spent working on goals that I deemed important and that now seem less important," Woods said. "I am trying to live every day to its fullest. I climbed mountains when I was younger, then I let myself get carried away with things like getting tenure. I need to get back to doing more of these things that make me alive."
But Woods also has a greater goal, and that is shining a light on cancer through a program developed at Alpine Physical Therapy and Peak Health and Wellness Center by Sam Schoeneman and Mary Lynn Eiseman.
The program is called Fit to Fight, and the goal is to help those battling cancer regain some of the physical strength and fitness they had before the disease struck. In doing so, they often gain mental strength, as well.
"Sam and everyone there have been very good to me, so I definitely want to do something to give back to that program," said Woods. "It's so important for those of us with cancer to continue living with a sense of purpose."
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Right now, Scott Woods' purpose is living fully and climbing Mount Rainier.
He's not some Johnny-come-lately when it comes to big mountains. He's already climbed Mont Blanc, at 15,782 feet, and other peaks in the Alps, and he's trekked up endless hills in England's Lake District where he was born. He's also trekked in the Karakoram range in Nepal, and across the High Atlas of Morocco.
"I've done some mountaineering, but long-distance hiking is really what I've always loved," said Woods. "I love it as an activity and I love it for the opportunity to see the countryside."
Although he grew up in England, Woods fell in love with the United States, and eventually found himself earning a doctorate at Colorado State University. With that degree in hand, he took his first academic job at UM.
"I feel very lucky," said Woods. "It's good to be in Missoula, Montana."
Two years ago, while on vacation in Mexico, Woods developed severe chest pains and grew nearly breathless. On return back home, he went to his doctor, who found fluids in his lung. Oftentimes, that is the body's response to cancer.
A CAT scan came next, and a six-centimeter tumor was found in his lung. Because of the fluid, through which the cancer had spread, removing the tumor wasn't an option.
"So I started a round of very intensive chemotherapy for six months," Woods said. "I have to say that that knocked me down a few notches. I lost my hair and my nails, and I really didn't have much of an appetite."
Still, two weeks into the regimen, Woods jogged around the block.
"I was determined to maintain some level of fitness, but I also had to be careful about how I lived my life," he said.
The tumor eventually was knocked back to about a tenth of its size, and an ongoing course of chemo has kept it there. There has been some spread of the cancer, but Woods said he's generally responded well to treatment.
"It's not to the point of being treated like a chronic illness, but they can control it for longer periods of time," he said. "It's about quantity of life and quality of life. And right now I am maintaining a reasonable quality of life."
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Sam Schoeneman sees lots of cancer patients as a physical therapist.
"I realized I was seeing a lot of people who had become very focused on their treatments, and their overall well-being was sort of being put to the side," she said. "The research says there's really a benefit to exercise as an aid to treatment, from helping with nausea, appetite, energy, pain and your mental health. So we put together a program that would look carefully at where people were physically and get them moving again."
Thus was born Fit to Fight, in February 2009. The program has now served more than 50 people, including Scott Woods.
"I'm not really a support group sort of person," Woods said. "I was totally reluctant to go, but my wife talked me into it. I told her I'd go once, and if I didn't like it, I'd quit."
Not surprisingly, Woods enjoyed the program's physical exercise and the care that was taken in assessing just how far a participant could go. But what brought him back to the second and subsequent classes was the fellowship.
"I have to say that I benefitted greatly from hearing everyone else's stories," he said. "There was an excitement to the idea of fighting back, and a real comfort in knowing the stories of these people who were fighting the same fight I was."
Fit to Fight is a program run entirely on volunteer time, and Schoeneman realized after a while that the program could do more with a little financial backing. That led to some fundraising, and Woods did a local triathlon in May to benefit the program.
"I got in better shape than I thought I would ever be in again," said Woods. "It was a great experience."
In a way, that race pointed toward the summit of Rainier.
"When I finished the triathlon, I needed another goal," Woods said. "I wanted to shoot for one of my major life goals, something I'd always wanted to do.That was Rainier. I set that as a personal goal, then decided to do it as a fundraiser for Fit to Fight."
"Scott's been really incredible in his willingness to work for us," Schoeneman said. "I am so proud of what he's been able to do, and I do think he's going to the top of Rainier."
Mount Rainier is just a mountain, but for Scott Woods, it's also a symbol.
"All I need is the next thing to keep going," he said. "None of us knows when he's done here, so I plan to keep doing the things I've always wanted to do. Rainier is just one of those things. I really draw a sense of purpose from being in the mountains, and that's very important to me these days."
